Seven Companies Join the 2021 Imported Car '10,000 Units Club'... "Who Took the Last Ride?"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] Last year, the domestic imported car market recorded the highest sales volume ever, with seven companies making it into the '10,000-unit club.'

According to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) on the 16th, the brands that surpassed 10,000 cumulative new car registrations last year were Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Volvo, Volkswagen, Mini, and Chrysler (Jeep), totaling seven companies.

Six companies?Mercedes-Benz (76,152 units), BMW (65,669 units), Audi (25,615 units), Volvo (15,053 units), Volkswagen (14,364 units), and Mini (11,148 units)?had already surpassed 10,000 new car registrations by November last year. Jeep had a cumulative new car registration of 9,350 units as of the end of November but sold 1,099 units in December, bringing its total sales to 10,449 units and successfully entering the 10,000-unit club.

On the other hand, some brands narrowly missed making it into the 10,000-unit club. Lexus fought hard with 9,752 units sold but fell short by 248 units. Chevrolet also failed to enter the 10,000-unit club with 8,975 new registrations.

Meanwhile, with total imported car sales approaching 300,000 units last year, the high growth of the imported car market is expected to continue this year. The Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA) predicts that domestic sales of imported cars will increase by 4.9% from the previous year to reach 320,000 units, while domestic car sales are expected to decline by 0.7% to 1.42 million units.